Lotto's Van Eetvelt is racing the Tour de France with a broken rib: 'Feel better on the bike than I do at night'

This isn’t Lennert Van Eetvelt’s Tour de France. The Belgian rider from Lotto-Intermarché got off to a solid start in the early stages, but struggled afterward. After the first rest day, things only got worse: he was really struggling during the last three stages, but there was a reason for that. He’s been riding with a fracture for a while now.

Van Eetvelt crashed the day after the rest day during the stage to Le Lioran. Things went wrong about 100 kilometers from the finish. “I broke my rib on Tuesday, and since then it’s been a matter of trying to survive,” he explained to Het Laatste Nieuws, among others. “It’s been up and down at times; there are moments when I feel better, but overall, the Tour is hard enough even when you’re completely healthy. For me, it’s really just about making it to Paris now.”

A huge setback for Van Eetvelt, whose relationship with the Tour de France is already fragile: his 2025 debut ended in disappointment after a crash at the Belgian National Championships and during the second stage of the Tour. He withdrew after fourteen stages. He got off to a better start in this race, but now it’s a matter of survival for the young climber.

The third week will be tough for the struggling Belgian. An uphill time trial and some grueling mountain stages are on the schedule. “I feel better on the bike than I do at night,” he says, putting things into perspective. “Especially when I go all out and have to take a deep breath—that’s when I get side stitches. I also notice that my body reacts to it; it doesn’t always do what I want it to.”

The fact that the past few days were covered at record speed certainly didn’t put Van Eetvelt in a good mood. “I cursed a lot yesterday because we were riding so hard,” he says with a wry smile. “For the first hour, we averaged about 55. The fact that I can keep up means I’m doing pretty well, but I’m not at 100 percent, and you have to be at 100 percent in the Tour.”

And so the Belgian climber has had to adjust all his goals. Whereas he initially wanted to win stages, he’s now just hoping to make it to Paris. “If things were to suddenly and miraculously improve, I’d be very happy. But I don’t expect that to happen.”